Beyond Clueless is a dizzying journey into the mind, body and soul of the teen movie, as seen through the eyes of over 200 modern coming-of-age classics.
A '90s nostalgia fest with some interesting points to make.
Ultimately, however, Beyond Clueless is great fun and – depending on your age – either a nostalgic trip down memory lane, or a raucous introduction to some gems of the genre.
Under its chipped, dark nail polish, Charlie Lyne has managed to expose the clever core that rests undisturbed in teen cinema. An exposition of intelligence under vacuity; this is fizzing cinematic nostalgia for today’s youth.
Scattershot, sure, but still lots to admire.
Charlie Lyne’s brilliant cine-essay assembles clips from more than 200 films – good and bad – revealing those who made it, and those who didn’t.
Charlie Lyne's documentary about modern teen movies is entertaining and insightful, but also scattergun in its approach.
A hypnotic hymn to this much maligned genre.
Verdict: Uneven homage to teen movies.
Written, directed and edited by 20-something film blogger and critic Charlie Lyne, it’s an auspicious debut, a wry but serious and passionate cine-essay, reminiscent of Thom Anderson’s seminal documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself in both its style and the alternative spotlight it shines on a side of cinema we tend to take for granted.
Charlie Lyne looks affectionately at how high schools have been portrayed in cinema.
Q&A: Charlie Lyne on directing Beyond Clueless
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Friday January 23, 2015, until Thursday January 29, 2015. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
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